An Ontario turkey-breeding company says it has suspended four employees and will install video monitoring after hidden-camera footage shot by an undercover animal activist showed birds being kicked, thrown and beaten at one of its barns.

Officials with Kitchener-based Hybrid Turkeys, one of only two primary turkey-breeding companies in the world, acknowledged that the euthanasia methods depicted in the video violated the company’s animal-welfare policies. They described the behaviour of its employees as “isolated.”

The secret video released Friday by Mercy for Animals Canada has prompted investigations by the Ontario Provincial Police and the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Similar undercover operations conducted by the activist group’s counterparts at turkey farms owned by Butterball in the United States have resulted in multiple criminal convictions for animal cruelty.

Twyla Francois, Mercy’s director of investigations, said in an interview that the video was shot while an activist was undercover as an egg collector for eight weeks at a farm in Bright, Ont., one of 20 operated by Hybrid Turkeys.

The hidden-camera footage shows a worker using a rod and a shovel to bash the head of a bird. Another piece of video shows a worker seeming to struggle with a hand-held tool designed to sever a bird’s spinal cord from its brain — essentially to break its neck. The worker then uses the metal-end of the tool to strike the bird’s head.

At various times, the video shows workers kicking or throwing birds, and also shows birds with open and bloody wounds or with rotting eyes.

Warning: video is graphic.

Francois said sick or injured birds either need to be treated immediately or euthanized by qualified veterinarians. All future euthanizing of birds by Hybrid Turkeys should be live-streamed to the Internet to ensure it’s done humanely, she said.

The advocacy group also called for the company to stop breeding turkeys to grow so fast and large that they become “crippled under their own weight.”

David Libertini, Hybrid Turkey’s managing director, said in statements that the company has “zero tolerance for animal abuse” and has hired an outside investigator to review “the incident,” as well as the company’s animal-welfare program and training practices.

“Animal care and well-being is central to the operations of our company, and we remain committed to the ethical and responsible care of our turkey flocks,” he said.

Helen Wojcinski, the company’s science and sustainability manager, said in an interview that the company will install video cameras to monitor the euthanizing of all its turkeys and will assign a veterinarian to review the tapes. It is also partnering with the University of Guelph to research the most effective and humane forms of euthanasia.

Wojcinski said even though the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association approves of euthanizing turkeys using blunt force, the company discontinued the practice several years ago, opting instead to kill birds only through cervical dislocation. She added that a new hand-held tool has been introduced to get the job done more efficiently.

“Yes, there was a lapse on a farm, that’s why we have to make sure it doesn’t happen again in the future,” she said.

Wojcinski, who is a veterinarian and poultry-welfare auditor, cautioned against making sweeping generalizations. A bird that is unable to stand up doesn’t necessarily mean all 3,000 birds on the farm have weight problems, she said.

A spokeswoman for the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association confirmed that the association approves of a variety of methods for euthanizing poultry, including blunt force trauma, cervical dislocation, decapitation and gas inhalation.

But death must be “quick and cause the least possible pain and distress,” Kristin McEvoy said.

Const. Stacey Culbert said Friday that the OPP were made aware of the animal cruelty allegations in late February and are investigating.

Brad Dewar, a spokesman for the Ontario SPCA, confirmed that they have launched their own investigation and will be consulting with experts to determine if the turkeys were treated humanely or suffered.

Hybrid Turkeys is a division of Netherlands-based Hendrix Genetics, which specializes in the breeding of turkeys, pigs and aquaculture.